The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater. Read Along Thread 2022 PART 2

[LillianGish]

A continuation of the brilliant thread started by @Dillidilly who I hope is still lurking somewhere and reading along

I finally had the time today to make the Apple Cake from the 17th January entry - it was exceedingly nice. Used the (until now unused) cardamom seeds from the back of the spice cupboard. Husband has just gone for a second slice.

I'm keeping the last entry for the beginning of February to have something to look forward to.

@Waitwhat23 that sounds good.

As there is nothing I am interested in watching on TV tonight, I am going to book mark some of the recipes that I am interested in.

On TV, I'm currently heavily into The White Lotus (Sky I think?). It's weirdly disturbing but very intriguing.

Hey all 🌺🌼🏵

Just popping in to say we finally made marmalade for the first time and it wasn't a faff at all, thank goodness! We got 7 jars out of it which I'm very happy with.

Hope you've each had a good first month of 2023 - hasn't it flown by?? Before we know it it'll be October and time to start enjoying the intro again!

2February
Candlemas, Japan and the best present of all
The last post! Candlemas - or La Chandleur as it's known here - is big in France and associated with pancake making. DD is a big fan so we will definitely be having some of those later tonight. Nigel has already moved on and is writing from Japan (slightly confusing because I think he was actually in Japan before Christmas this year according to his Instagram account). I'm definitely ready to move on now that the nights are visibly lengthening and there are bulbs peeking through in the window box. What a great thread this has been though! I've loved popping in for chat.

This has been a lovely thread, thanks all!

I'll read the last chapter tonight with a small glass of something nice (very small as I'm keeping alcohol intake to a minimum). Thank you all for the lovely thread!

I know what you mean @LillianGish -- soon the clocks will change and spring will be well and truly on its way! It's still light here now at half four/five which is so nice. I love autumn/winter but I love spring/summer too!

I will be reading the final exert later on today.

It has been a delight being able to read together and contribute to this thread. I dare that after a few more comments, we will be waiting to start again later this year 😃

Hello all! It feels like its been forever since I last jumped on here. My brother kindly gave me Covid for Christmas when he came to visit and I was too sick to even read CC. Many commiserations to @TangledWebofMincemeatDeception, I also had a fridge full of food that was left untouched and I've only just finished it off last week! I ended up unwrapping my Christmas presents on New Years Day when I could summon any energy to go downstairs.

I did manage to make the fried apples and potatoes with mustard sauce mid Jan and it was absolutely stunning and I'll definitely be making again. But more importantly I've just finished CC in the nick of time! I also love Japan so I totally agreed with Nige. I did feel the book ended quite abruptly, no last thoughts on the festive period or summation or best wishes! Everyone's food looked and sounded fantastic, it made me very hungry. Thanks everyone for my first CC read-along, I enjoyed every minute!

@LillianGish looking at my tree sat outside today, it really doesn’t look like it will survive another year. I am going to leave it a bit longer, but I suspect that me say the prospect of recovery is negligible is over egging it ☹️

👋

I never managed to read the last chapter!

Ah well, not long now... 😁

Aww @Ihavedogs shame about the tree.

Awww - that’s quite sad @Ihavedogs. Is it worth repotting or is it truly a lost cause? Or maybe you could try planting it out in the garden. Sad as it is, I feel surprisingly cheered that its demise has prompted another post on this thread - I’ve missed checking in with everyone! It’s like hearing from an old friend.

@LillianGish I really do think it is a lost cause. But I will keep looking after it for the next couple of months and see if there is any change. I was lucky that I managed to keep it alive for so long, but it ended up being in the house slightly longer than preferable and some of the tips are looking quite dead. It remains to be seen if any re growth can be generated.

If I could guarantee I could keep another one alive for 2 or 3 years, I would buy real again next year. A real potted tree is now so expensive (it would have cost £80 last year for one of a similar size) and I begrudge spending that amount on something that may only have 2-3 weeks use. I am toying with the thought of a decent artificial tree, but I am with Nigel on the ritual of the real tree.

Just checking back in here too, this is really a comment for the Poncetastic thread but I can’t find that one and I think quite a few of the same people were here. My paperwhite narcissi that I planted along with the other Poncers at the start of December have FINALLY flowered! I was beginning to think they never would. Beautiful they are too.

Sorry about the tree @Ihavedogs it is a dilemma. We have a cut real one every year, our ritual is going to a Christmas tree farm, choosing and cutting it ourselves, but the cost has crept up and up (can’t remember how much this year as DH went in and paid). We save by having a shorter one (about 5’6”) on a table instead of a full height one.

Ahh I'm happy to see that! What a lovely and timely surprise for spring! I did them the Christmas before last and they were beautiful but neither DH or I liked the fragrance and I think I may have picked up a slight sensitivity to pollen, so I won't be doing them again.

@EspeciallyD those paper whites look lovely. I have some bulbs in the garden, but they have never done anything.

I like a real tree on a table as it keeps the dogs from doing what dogs do! I do love a real tree, so I am going to muse for a while as to what the options are for next year. The tree has served us so well and it the first one I have managed to keep alive, but it is currently not looking good at all. DH would be happy to chop it up now ☹️

I love your Paperwhites @EspeciallyD. I wish I had planted some! That's a project for next year. Thanks for sharing.

@EspeciallyD
How lovely to see your Paperwhites!
I just happened to see this thread I am generally to be found on the Poncetastic thread banging on about the joy of Paperwhites! Glad you persevered until they flowered.
I get mine from Sarah Raven every year, the one year I didn’t I had failures!

Popping back in to say thanks again to each of you for making this thread such a truly lovely place to hang out. I’m going to de-reg from MN sometime soon (within the next few days, at a guess - just waiting to see from MNHQ about one matter), because it’s just too big, too hairy handed, and too not-so-women-centred-anymore. But I couldn’t go without saying goodbye as I’ll miss you/this when October comes around! Wishing you all well. 💐

I’ve de-camped elsewhere so if you ever find yourselves looking for a smaller, quieter corner of the Internet, you might well run into me there! I plan to start a Very Nigel thread when the time comes!

@TangledWebofMincemeatDeception 👋I am sorry to hear that you are going to leave (I have done so in the past and then lurked on the Christmas forum and in particular the CC thread which imo is one of the nicest threads ever thanks to all the lovely participants, but rejoined specifically last winter for the CC thread). I am also planning to disappear, but may rejoin for the CC thread or pop up elsewhere.

Wishing you all the best and thank you for your lovely posts.

@Ihavedogs would you like a PM with where I’m off to? I think I recognise your name from the Royal threads...but I’m absolutely awful with names out of context so I could be wrong!

This time once I leave (I have left for long periods before, off and on over the years) I won’t come back at all, so sadly it’s a hard goodbye to MN for me and I won’t be able to join in my favourite threads here anymore.

Sorry to see you go @TangledWebOfDeception I am staying, I only really post on threads similar to this one, but have also registered for an alternative in the last week or so and may see you over there (I have gone back to an old name for that one but will look out for a CC thread when the time comes!)

@Trumpton lovely photos! It was my first attempt with paperwhites, inspired by the Poncers (I'm not a full on poncer but did dip in and out of the thread last year). I usually just do hyacinths. They haven't all flowered yet, still got some buds so hoping they will keep me going for a while.

Yes please to the PM.

@EspeciallyD it’s very like the same place then! I’ve started a Nigel Slater Kitchen Diaries thread to run in the interim up until October.

@Ihavedogs done!